[The Chaos Entity]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 806mtson

snip

I?d point out that I?m autistic as well, and yet I don?t go on borderline-insane rants about how clearly unconnected things are connected, but that particular diagnosis can manifest very differently in different people, even without factoring in other diagnoses or the fact that I?m a woman and, I assume, you?re a man.

In any case, nonexistent connections between riders and animals aside, you?re clearly very new to this whole ?Rider Toys? business - and that?s not a bad thing, everyone starts somewhere - so I?ll explain things for you.
You see?this is nothing new. Every year has Premium Bandai-exclusive merch - and, as has been said, a dude?s only toys being Premium Bandai-exclusive is a sign of one of three things, usually - he?s not going to last long so no point putting it on toy shelves, they don?t think that particular toy would sell enough to be mass release, or it?s so late in the show, by the time it?s on-sale in shops, the next show will have started. You?ll recall this from when you tried to gotcha everyone in here by saying that the Demons Driver being Premium Bandai meant Hiromi was unkillable, but, as you were told at the time, that actually makes it more likely that he?s going to bite it.
The reason why these sets are not available internationally?is that Kamen Rider being promoted internationally by Bandai is a thing so new, that if it were a person, it wouldn?t be in school yet. Bluefin bringing over the CSM Belts is an incredibly new thing, and the Toei Youtube channel putting up Kamen Rider episodes is barely a year old. Bandai doesn?t care that there are western fans who would buy their toys because, legally, you aren?t actually able to watch the show they?re promoting outside of Japan. All those livestreams, and then streaming sites, or torrent sites with fansubs?all varying levels of illegal. So it?s a case of one: why sell toys to people who shouldn?t know the context behind them, and two: Bandai don?t think enough westerners would buy them to justify making more to sell to the west. Premium Bandai works on a commission basis, you see. For the most part, they only make as many as people order - but to justify the price of the toy design, the moles, the manufacturing, the electronics?they need to be reasonably sure they?ll make a profit.
This explanation mostly covers the movie ticket bonuses as well - Bandai don?t care about western fans of current shows because you shouldn?t be watching them - but this, too, is also something they?ve done before. Every show since at least Ghost has had various gimmick items exclusive to arcade machines, or lotteries, or ticket preorders, or clothing stores, or physical store-collabs?yes it?s shitty, but it?s far from unusual. You see, Bandai doesn?t care how hard it is for you to complete your collection. They?re a company?they just want money. Even if only ten people period collect all the ViStamps?if they can charge those ten people through the nose?they?re fine. Artificial scarcity drives up prices and demand, for one?and for two, the more they release, the more likely they are to hook a kid who likes that animal/object/whatever-the-theme-is so that they?re parent buys it for them. If it means they have to go to the cinema and buy tickets to see the film they?ve just made?then well, that means the film makes more money, too!

It?s certainly not fair, and I?m not saying you can?t be mad?but it?s normal. It?s not going to change because it?s been this way for years. If you want a complete collection, it?s going to set you back hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds/dollars/insert-currency-here, and many hours of trawling Japanese auction sites. That?s just the way it is.

As for news…nothing. We usually get news for the next months forms/toys at the end of the previous month, and that’s the only reliable schedule we have. There are often other little surprises that crop up, but in terms of news you can expect…nothing until the last week of December, when we get the January scans, at which point we’ll probably see the big Second Quarter Belt/Henshin item and the respective Rider, if he doesn’t cameo in the winter movie as they often do.